Recognizing 3D Objects by Generating Random Actions

This paper presents a formal model of an active recognition system that can be programmed by learning. At each time step the system decides between producing an action to generate new data and stopping to issue the name of the object observed. The actions can be directed either towards the external environment or towards the internal perceptual system of the agent. The decision strategy is based on a quantitative evaluation of the system learning experience. The problem studied is the recognition of chess pieces using a moving camera and a multiscale feature detector. The recognition is difficult because the objects are complex – neither polyhedral nor smooth – and rather similar between classes, especially in certain view configurations. The system uses the information obtained by observing internal state transitions when the camera is moved or when the feature detector scale is changed. A simulation of the agent and the environment is used for experimental measures of the model performances.